Qatar's sovereign wealth fund has reportedly signed a preliminary agreement to acquire the Credit Suisse headquarters in Milan from US developer-investor Tishman Speyer.
Qatar's sovereign wealth fund has reportedly signed a preliminary agreement to acquire the Credit Suisse headquarters in Milan from US developer-investor Tishman Speyer.
The asset was put on the market through Cushman & Wakefield in early March, as reported by PropertyEU.
According to Italian press reports, the building at Via Santa Margherita 3 is changing hands for €105 mln in cash.
The 12,300 m2 asset is multi-let to bank Credit Suisse First Boston as well as law firm Linklaters and BPVN. Currently fully leased, the property was completely refurbished by Tishman Speyer in 2006 and generates rents of around €6 mln a year.
The Qataris are being advised by asset manager Hines Italia Sgr on the deal.
The transaction is the latest by the sovereign wealth fund in Milan. In early 2013, Qatar Holding, which is part of the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), agreed to buy a 40% stake in the flagship Porta Nuova mixed-use development in the city centre of Milan from Italian fund manager Hines Italia Sgr.
The deal amounted to some €800 mln, valuing the project at a total of €2 bn.
In 2012, the Qataris also bought luxury hotel group Smeralda Holding, the owner of a portfolio of four hotels in the Costa Smeralda tourist destination on the Italian island of Sardinia.
